Carl Louie: Kate Sansom

Kate Sansom
Sociable
April 21 - May 19, 2018

Press Release

‘Sociable’ is a Halifax drinking tradition. It may not have originated there, but that’s where I learned it.

When a musician or performer at a pub, or wherever, stops playing and yells out 'sociable!' everyone
in the place yells it back and finishes what is left of their drinks.

It was a comfort to me, because I’ve relied most of my adult life, and even before that, on drinking
to lessen my anxiety in social settings. And this tradition not only made that feel condoned
but also something shared, and so innocuous.

Then I think about those experiences, like ones in Halifax, where I was sociable, and know that
I enjoyed them... but the memories are foggy, messy, or completely gone.
Maybe that’s also part of the tradition.’